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...because this was all I had time to do. (Nevertheless, I'm thinking it took me closer to 15 minutes)  Tangle: Toodles (a variation of Toodles). Graphite, white chalk, Micron 01 on a Renaissance tile. Done for Inktober 2019, day 3.  I ran my original photo thru an iPhone app and got this. A lazy way of adding color. See details on the original photo below.  For Day One of the Inktober Project (the tangle version), the prompt was Printemps. Tangles are: Printemps, Shattuck, and Flux. Micron 01 and 1, graphite, white gellyroll. Ahhh, the start of October and cooler weather. I hope. It's also the start of the annual drawing event, Inktober. There are many versions of this, and a few of them focus on tangling. I used today's prompt (the tangle Printemps) as the string for this tangle, then put more Printemps inside it, along with Flux and Shattuck. I like the result but I also ran in thru my iPhone app and the color version was very fun.
 Tangles: Weighted Printemps, a little Crescent Moon, a bit of Fescu, and then just linework. Gold & silver Finetec watercolors, Blue Micron 01, various chalk pencils, white gellyroll and gold gellyroll. This is a day traditionally held sacred to all women, honoring the sacred feminine and the Great Goddess in earlier times. For an excellent article with good information on its celebratory aspects (as well as superstitions and misogyny that have accrued around it), click HERE. Art!
Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this Great Goddess? --Ludwig van Beethoven  Tangles: Fayz, Pokeleaf, Weighted Printemps, ICanToo. General's Chalk Pencils, Micron 01 in black, a bit of White Gellyroll #10. Woke up early today and used the extra time to do this tangle. I had watched a Romi Marks (Tangled Yogi) video and used most but not all of her tangles for this. She uses colored pencils, as have I when I've used her paper tiles, made from cardstock so they are very smooth and handle colored pencils beautifully. I was using a regular Zentangle® tile today, though. That's made from printmaking paper and has a lot of tooth. So I went with General's Chalk Pencils for the color. Today all I knew when I sat down to draw was that I wanted to work on something blue, invoking the quiet calm of that color. When more than a day passes with no drawing, I get tangle-deprivation syndrome. So, waking early was a pleasure; meditation is easier for me at that time of day, and I've noticed that any drawing I do at dawn or after dusk tends to be less self-conscious than when I draw during the day. Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight.
--John Ruskin  Tangles: Aniflower (variation, used as a string), Flux, Shattuck. Done with Ecoline Markers, Gold Gellyroll, various colors of General's chalk pencils, Micron PN and 01 in black, and white chalk pencil. An "embedded letters" tile for Project Pack 06. The "No Mistakes" pack.  Black gesso on white notebook paper. White gellyroll, white charcoal pencil, black Microns 01 and 08, graphite. Meanwhile, I think/hope my creativity is beginning to come back. Finally some textile work, the start of a new rug.  I took another tangling class today, this one with Heidi Halpern Kay, a talented artist who has been teaching for only one year. She has no website that I can find, but she's active on Pinterest and Facebook. My hope in taking all these recent classes has been that they would inspire me to get back my creative mojo. I think it's working, although I won't know until I begin doing my own designs again.  This tile introduced me to Ecoline Markers, which I had never used before. Very interesting. I'll be doing a lot more experimenting. Tangles: Printemps, Hollibaugh, Pokeroot/Pokeleaf, Mooka. Ecoline Markers, Copic Markers, White Gellyroll, White chalk pencil, White Uniball Signo Pen, Sakura Multiliner pen. That's a lotta art supplies! The big news for me is that I've begun another hooked rug. It's not at the stage where I can show anything; everything so far is just experimental and it will be awhile until I have something to show. This is one reason I think I'm starting to get back some mojo. Hurrah! "What art offers is space--a certain breathing room for the spirit."
--John Updike This is a 2nd version of the same tile I did a week or two ago. I made it today for a friend and will be sending it off to her tomorrow, hoping she likes it.  There is no harm in repeating a good thing.
--Plato With thanks to Romi Marks, TheTangledYogi, for her design--drawing and coloring by me. A good friend who is also a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) was here this week and stayed long enough for both of us to take the same online class via the TangledYogi--aka Romi Marks, a very good teacher. I'd encourage you to check out her work, including her YouTube videos. Below you will see our results. The first two are mine--think of them as Draft 1 and Final. Here is the draft:  Romi refers to this as the "Aloha Waves" piece. The design is hers, but drawn by me, and then the color choices are mine. In a moment you can see the final result below, once I'd had time to mull this one over. I hope you can see what I added. The piece was done on one of Romi's hexagonal tiles, which are available on her website (see the link at the top of this email). She has them made from high-quality card stock and they are very smooth and accept colored pencil well. They are also larger than the standard Zentangle® tiles (made from Fabriano Tiepolo printmaking paper, softer and tooth-ier). The two most recognizable tangles here are Pokeleaf and Crest, along with a Zengem. My finished piece is below, and then below that one you can see the gorgeous result of my friend's work. Two identical tiles, drawn by two different people, with two completely different coloways.  Above is the completed version of the one I did. Below is the tile done by AE in the same class. We were drawing together during class, hearing and seeing the same instructions. Yet if you look you'll see slight differences in mine (above) and hers (below). Zentangle® is just like handwriting. The same tangle drawn by two different people will always be a little (sometimes a lot) different.  Drawn and colored by my buddy AE. This was her first-ever ZenGem! Didn't she do a terrific job on it and on the whole tile--and these aren't her usual colors, just the colors she had with her to choose from. Photo credit to AE, used with her permission. But wait--there's more. She also decided to take up punch hooking and got her equipment together while she was here, designed a piece, and began punching. I can't wait to see what she produces.
The good news for me is that I think I'm about to start work on another rug and have something textile-related to show soon. It's been too long.  Tangles: Munchin, Paradox. Micron 08 in black, white gellyroll, black gesso on part of the page, white chalk pencil, graphite. This is from Project Pack 06 Day 4 of Zentangle® (videos on YouTube), although I took a LOT of liberties and adapted it. Well this was tough! I'm not quite sure why. I did notice, though, that when I sat down to work on this, I was not feeling at my best emotionally. In fact I was feeling like s*** emotionally. That's quite unusual, but it's been a tough couple of weeks. Events and politics have been even more challenging (which is really saying something in this country). I got started and right from the get-go I disliked what I was doing. If I had been working on a single sheet of paper or a tile, I'd probably have abandoned this. Possibly I'd have ripped it up. But I was working in a special notebook, and didn't feel I could leave it and ignore it without diminishing all the other pieces I had done already in the book. So, following a Zentangle guideline, I kept my hand moving and focused on one line at a time. I worked and worked, but really. did. not. like. it. Following another Zentangle guideline, I walked away from it for a while. When I returned, it still wasn't exciting me but I noticed I didn't dislike it quite as much. So I sat down and kept on. And on. And on! It's still not my favorite page, but I'm ok with where I ended up, especially given how I felt when I started. Most of all, I'm happy I persisted. There's a lesson in here. My mood had improved substantially when I was done. There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt.
--attributed to the Buddha Yesterday I asked my neighbor if she knew what the flowering, beautifully scented bush was in our front yard (we didn't plant it) and she said yes: Clethra. I thought she said "plethora" and assumed she was referring to the high number of fabulous blossoms. But no, she was naming Clethra alnifolia, also known as the sweet pepperbush or "summersweet." I love that last name. Summersweet is incredibly seductive to honeybees and butterflies, both of which I've seen--a "plethora" of them--since it began to bloom a few weeks ago. And the scent...oh, the scent is so lovely. I feel honored to be in the presence of this plant. I remember it bloomed the first summer I moved here, but not last year. What a treat to have it make such a big comeback this year. Here's a blossom from our front yard.  Clethra alnifolia, aka summersweet or sweet pepper There were so many honeybees and other cuties drinking from the flowers that I'm surprised I didn't have to beat any of them back to get this photo but this one stem was not being worked just as I snapped the shutter. Lots of Monarch butterflies and other butterflies around it also this year. It's a good year for the Monarchs around here--god knows they need a good year. And the bees as well. Advice from a Honeybee Create a buzz. Sip life's sweet moments. Mind your own beeswax. Work together. Always find your way home. Stick close to your honey. Always bee yourself. --Ilan Shamir  Inside the front cover of my Zentangle® Project Pack 06 book, which I've been working on in the last few days. The theme of the Project Pack is the Zentangle slogan, "No Mistakes." Black Micron 01, gold gellyroll, white gellyroll.  From my Zentangle Project Pack 06 book, Day Three. I hasten to say here that I am simply following along with the Project Pack videos as I draw, so these compositions are copies of what is on the videos, not my original compositions. 99% of what I post here is original to me, but sometimes, when I don't have the mojo--which has been happening lately for unknown reasons--it's just so relaxing to follow along and copy-to-learn-from someone else's work. I always attribute the work to the originator, as I've done here and for my last several posts.
 The tangle is Arukas, done in white gellyroll and black Micron on an ink-splashed journal page. Working my way through Project Pack 06 (this is from Day Two) I am thinking about Blackness and Whiteness (and everyone else--brown, yellow, red) in my country. Doing this drawing in black and white was calming and joyful, but I'm also thinking of the deep racial disparities and oppression in existence here, now even more obvious. Not that they ever went away.
The week before Toni Morrison died, I watched an absolutely wonderful documentary on her life (highly recommended). I had no idea that she was sick and fixing to die as I watched. I left the theater and decided to re-read all of her books, beginning with The Bluest Eye, which I last read around 1976. I have just finished reading it and am stunned all over again by the power and beauty of her words, along with the pain and the level of truth we all need to face. Rest in peace, Toni Morrison. You have been and will continue to be a powerful teacher for me and for others. Just a quiet day and my first work with Day One of Zentangle®'s Project Pack 06. Videos for this one are likely easily found on YouTube.  I'm loving the contrast between tangling and empty space on this. Tangles: Mooka, Crescent Moon (variation), Fescu.  Tangle is Ellish. Black Micron01, graphite, white chalk pencil. On a 3.5" white tile colored by drops from two small pieces of wet art tissue paper. As far as I can remember, I have only ever done this tangle once, and that was years ago. So I wasn't sure if this would end up becoming "Hellish" or "Ellish." I do like the way it turned out and I need to practice more to allow myself to relax right from the start. Speaking of hellish, the outdoor temperature is warming up and humidity is just beginning to slide in this direction; my all-time least favorite weather. I can tolerate cold far better than heat. Ok, enough of that! Yesterday I broke out my gellyroll pens, which I haven't used since I can't remember when, and played with another grid-based tangle, this one a fragment from the Zentangle® book, Reticula and Fragments. (A "reiticula" is just another name for "grid.")  Fragment in a grid, turned in different directions. Green and purple gellyrolls, gold gellyroll, brown Micron 01, graphite, white chalk pencil. The slight bend in the "frame" is because this tile is folded into one of my BittyBookZ™. In love with this weather? I'm happy for you! (You've certainly waited long enough for it after the long cold rainy spring.). "Hellish" or Coolish, we all welcome summer. There is so much to enjoy. May yours be a wonderful one. "The difficult part of the process is the long exploration and discovery of your own soul and living with the results."
(Mike Svob)  Tangle is Cirque, but doubled, and I added a few more things to it, like some Mooka and a spinoff of Crescent Moon. Used black & brown micron 01s, graphite, white gellyroll, general's chalk pencil, and a very small amount of Prismacolor. This tile is inside one of my first BittyBookZ™. See posts in June for info about those. Gawd, what a week. I needed something round and sunny today so I made the above tangle on some pages in one of my recent handmade books. Today is the first day I feel like myself in over a week. I had a medical test that went wrong. Nothing dangerous, but it's quite impressive how bad one can feel when something is seriously "off" but not dangerous. I have had zero, and I do mean zero, motivation to do anything for days and days. Hurrah for feeling better! Last week in the middle of my woes I had a bout of insomnia, and that's when I did the tile just beneath this. I was still trying to work on grid-based tangles, which are not my preference. The combo of "not my preference" and "feeling really crappy" added up to what you see below. [Late last week] Oh, how my mood is matching the feeling of being "gridlocked," like the tangles I have been working on. I've been pretty sick this week, unexpectedly. Nothing that won't improve, but the improvement is slow. I've discovered--no surprise--that I suck as an invalid. I'm not good at sitting around. There are things I want to be doing that are physical, and I'm just not up to doing them yet. Frustrating. Insomnia last night led to another grid-based tangle, C-Stem by Agneta Landeson. I've never tried it before:  Tangle: C-Stem by Agneta Landeson. Tan 3.5" tile with Black Micron PN, graphite, white charcoal. I'm not crazy about how it came out but at least the process did enable me to go to sleep.
The top of the 6-sided box I've been working on is finally tangled, and I've sprayed the entire thing with fixative. All that's left is to add a button for closure. Here's the top.  I went outdoors after dark last night and was mesmerized by the bountiful fireflies everywhere in my front yard. Although I hadn't meant to, I stayed for over half an hour watching them as they danced in the dark. So very lovely. In their honor I added some white dots in the background on the top of the box, and also some dark dots on the right side of the top which is lighter in color. To view a quick, lovely video on fireflies dancing, go HERE. Don't miss it. The box, which really isn't that big (perhaps 8" x 1"?) took forever to tangle as I worked my way along all 6 sides. The paper actively resisted the ink, and it was awkward to tangle because of the shape. But I think it will be quite functional as soon as I add that button. I won't be making another one soon, however. *** Yesterday must have been a good day for me as I also finished a Bitty BookZ™ version for Zendalas (see the last few posts for the link to more information on Bitty BookZ). Here is the final result on that. I'm quite pleased.  Zendala Bitty BookZ™ with paper binding and covers. Ten Zendala tiles are folded in half inside. I'd better get busy tangling!  Showing the book placed face-down and open flat. “Catch fireflies in flight, crinkle grass under your toes and know that you are always beloved always beautiful .... a dream within a dream.”  Tangles: Fleavy, Antique, Peeps, a hint of Doodah, and other added lines. Done on a used coffee filter using General's Charcoal Pencils, graphite, brown and blue Micron 01s, a dash of white gellyroll, and some Prismacolor pencil. This mandala started 8 months ago. I did the outer border (you can see that HERE) last October and was flummoxed about what to do next. You know how these things sometimes have to marinate. I've had the filter itself (yes, a used coffee filter from the amazing Cheryl Cianci CZT, who drinks lots of coffee) since 2014. So this one marinated a very long time as a total blank, then again as a partially done piece, and finally it's finished. "Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper, sprinkle cool patience."
(William Shakespeare) "If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life." (Oscar Wilde)  Tangling on a tan coffee filter with a blue watercolor wash (prepped by Cheryl Cianci, CZT, after she first used the filter to make her coffee, rinsed it, and put the wash on it; then dried it--Thanks for doing all that prep work Cheryl!). Tangles are Mooka, and a variation of Flux, as well as the embedded letters technique without any letters. PN Blue Micron, General's Pastel Pencils, White Gellyroll, Prismacolor Pencils. I managed to avoid all the other things I was supposed to be doing today when I heard that my friend Cheryl Cianci, CZT, was offering her coffee-filter class again. I only discovered this at the very last minute and raced out the door hoping to make it on time. I had taken the class about 4-5 years ago but my experience of Cheryl is that there's always something new and it was utterly relaxing as usual. She is the soul of kindness, and hugely talented.
Much gratitude to all who teach.  A compilation of random thoughts this fine spring morning. 1. Aren't these buttons fun? I found them online and loved them, probably because they remind me of various patterns used in Zentangle® and also of patterns used in Oriental Rugs. I'm hoping to use them in some tangling projects. And maybe one or two will inspire a rug. They are a collection of tiny mandalas.  2. I spotted this beauty yesterday on a walk. Yowza! A "button"/mandala created by Mother Nature herself, and what a beauty. There has to be a tangle design (or a rug) in there somewhere. The plant goes by the unglamorous name of Osteospermum, also known as "Flower Power White." It stopped me in my tracks on my walk. Just an amazing flower; it positively glowed.  3. This is a partially-done panel on the bottom (yes, the bottom) of a tan paper box. I've been working on this for two weeks and the going has been slow because I don't have all that much time to tangle right now. Below you can see the completed design. It will probably take me another month to finish.  Alas, I couldn't quite get that photo above to come out straight-on, but you get the idea.  The same box, vertical photo. I still couldn't get a straight-on image. I don't have the box in front of me but I'm guessing that the dimensions are about 9" long, about 2" wide, and perhaps and inch-and-a-half tall, with a cover that flips open. I have a button to sew on when I'm done with the tangling and will use that for a closure (not one of the buttons shown at the top of this post). 4. Spring has fully sprung here and today we're having stunningly beautiful weather; up until today there have been very few sunny days and plenty of soggy ones. May all the lovely colors, sounds, and scents of spring fill your senses today. (At least in the Northern Hemisphere)  3.5" Renaissance (tan) tile with black Micron 01, General's Chalk Pencils, white gellyroll, graphite. What I've noticed: The later in the day I tangle and the more exhausted I am, the better. Or so it seems as I observe over time. That critical inner voice, sometimes quite loud during the day, apparently develops laryngitis by late at night when I'm tired. And so I frequently love not only the process, but also the results. I like this one, done at midnight last night. “The good news is that opportunities for love enter our lives unpredictably, whether or not we’ve perfected self-compassion or befriended our inner critic.”
--Sharon Salzburg Trees are in bud, the buds looking bigger each passing day. There is a small maple on my front lawn with large tight red buds. I worry about this tree as it was mistreated in the past, but despite all that, it's resilient and looking pretty darned good. I'm guessing I'll see leaves within a week or so. I think of this tree as courageous and persistent. May it have a peaceful and ease-filled summer growth season this year. A few days ago I begin work on this tile below. Because I'm so busy it took days to finish, even though it's a very small piece. It's clearly Spring-inspired.  Tangles are Blixty and Catkin. Micron 01, Prismacolor pencil and General's White Chalk Pencil, graphite. This morning I snuck in one more tile when I should have been working on something else. I am a world-class procrastinator, especially when whatever I am supposed to be doing is preventing me from making art.  A "cartouche"-based tangled piece using Doodah on a black post-card-sized paper. Maria Thomas did the calligraphy of the word Gratitude; it was enclosed on a business card inside one of my orders, and I loved it. I pasted it onto the black page, along with the Zentangle® chop (the red square at the bottom right, which I embellished) and used white gellyroll, gold gellyroll, and red General's chalk pencil, gold metallic Prismacolor. And now, back to the big projects. Sigh.
ZenLinea posted a wonderful video on Instagram on how to draw this knot, so two nights ago I decided to try it at about 2 a.m. when sleep was eluding me.  This was my first effort and I'd like to play with it a lot more, if I can ever find the time. I started off thinking it would be black and gray on the white tile, but somehow I began adding other lines and colors to the outside of the knot (the gold gellyroll, the yellow Prismacolor) and then the colors also crept slightly inside the knot as well. I think I finished around 3 or 3.30 a.m. and was able to go right to sleep afterwards. Of course this afternoon I was looking at it again and wondered what it would look like if I ran it thru an iPhone app, so I gave that a try using the same photo:  Rather reptilian, don't you think? And soooooo different. But interesting for sure.  Done on a ten-inch square tan Opus Tile with brown and black Micron 01s, General's colored chalk pencils, white gellyroll pen, and mucho graphite. Completed over several days for the #zenuari2018 project day 20, "Maze." (This is not a maze; it's a labyrinth--they are two different things but often incorrectly used as synonyms.) It's been that kind of week--labyrinthine. So many twists and turns. We keep walking and we trust we will find our way in to the center and then out again on this challenging journey. I hope we are in the center now and will soon find our way out to resume our lives. I am still far from home, helping out my friend who is receiving daily treatments. She is close to the end, however--only three more and she will be done and we will return to our respective homes. A huge complicating factor has been the sudden illness of someone in her family; it certainly has increased the pressure on her to finish here and go home. There is much uncertainty. And yet, we know we just need to keep walking along on the path before us, and trust we will get where we need to be. In fact, we are already where we need to be, and we just need to remember that. It took me a few days to do this piece as it's so large. I learned a lot in the doing and will try again for better results. My friend also tangles and finds it therapeutic as she waits for appointments. She is talented and here is one of her latest efforts, a Zendala done on a tile which she had pre-treated with a Fine-Tec paint gold wash. Isn't this spectacular? (I have her permission to publish this photo)  This tile was done by my friend AE, not by me. I would love to claim it! I love it. Those metallic Fine-Tec watercolors are so inspiring. "A labyrinth is a symbolic journey … but it is a map we can really walk on, blurring the difference between map and world."
— Rebecca Solnit, in Wanderlust: A History of Walking It's not my story to tell, so I won't tell it here except to say that it was a roller coaster of a day for the friend I'm helping out. Just crazy--good news one moment, then bad news, then maybe good...oy vey. It's a very good thing that we both meditate. And a very good thing that we both do Zentangle®. Both practices helped us stay steady throughout the day. I did two more new-to-me tangles this morning:  Black Micron 01 pen, graphite, white chalk, white gellyroll pen on a Strathmore tile. Tangles are: Poa, on the right, and Twilight on the left side of the tile. I always find that lots of plain linework is a great soother in times of stress. The Twilight tangle was perfect for that. And now back to meditation... "Stay in your seat come times of trouble. Its only people who jump off the roller coaster who get hurt. "
--Paul Harvey  This nearly qualifies as what's known as an "inchie," a tiny drawing. But in fact, it's more like a "two-inchie," since I did it on a Bijou tile (2x2") with a gold gellyroll and shaded it with a Prismacolor yellow pencil. It's done for the Zenuari2019 project, day 16, "tiny tangle." I'm away from home again and thus haven't tangled in two days. Or done anything except knit. Starting to feel a withdrawal. I certainly hope I can get to do some textile work or some more Zentangle® today or tomorrow. "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."
--Dryden |
ABOUT ME I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), a long-time meditator, a certified meditation teacher and coach, and focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 
Certified, 2021
Certified Unified Mindfulness Coach Level I, 2024
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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